This section introduces aspects that may help facilitate a better understanding of the inventions. Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is prior art or what is not prior art.
According to the International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T), by way of example, a Next Generation Network (NGN) is a packet-based network able to provide services including telecommunication services and able to make use of multiple broadband, quality-of-service (QoS)-enabled transport technologies and in which service-related functions are independent from underlying transport-related technologies. It may offer unrestricted access by users to different service providers. It may support generalized mobility which may allow consistent and ubiquitous provision of services to users.
Consistent with NGN development efforts, Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) with an aim of trying to improve the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile phone standard and to provide an enhanced user experience and simplified technology for next generation mobile broadband. LTE radio access technology has been referred to as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) and the network has been referred to as an Evolved Packet System (EPS). Architecture of the EPS network is described in the 3GPP Technical Specifications 23.401 and 23.402, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.